


How Fanfiction Can Bring A Family Together

by moretrash



Series: Virgil Gets Hugs [1]
Category: Sanders Sides, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Is this considered a fourth wall break?, Patton is the ultimate dad, Platonic Cuddling, Virgil Gets Hugs, is this even angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 21:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12329115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Virgil loves reading the gentle, caring fanfiction that wonderful, caring people upload to the internet. It gives him a false sense of love every day. What happens when the other sides get curious about what he's reading on his phone all day?





	How Fanfiction Can Bring A Family Together

It was no secret that Virgil loved technology. He loved the bright light of his phone screen that bathed his face in the darkness of his room. He loved the way the microwave could heat up leftovers for a late night snack. He loved watching Tim Burton movies, whether by himself or with the other sides.

What was a secret, however, was Virgil's favorite way to use this technology that the world had granted him with.

What had started as a simple curiosity had quickly grown into an obsession that he just couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. All he had wanted to know was how the fandom had been accepting all of the 'Sanders Sides' videos. Sure, he could always look at the comments on the videos, but many people didn't comment, and fanfictions often showed how people felt about characters. So, he had opened up his phone's internet browser, and typed in the phrase 'sanders sides fanfiction.'

What had he been expecting to find? He didn't really know himself, but whatever it was, it sure wasn't this. He had expected people to love the other sides, sure, but him? He could see how people could love Logan's logical approach to every situation. He could see why people would love Patton's happy attitude and his caring personality. He could even see why people would love Roman's self confident, loud attitude. He had been expecting people to love them, not him. He was nothing like the others. He was dark, seemingly upset all the time. He didn't really know how to open up to others. He was the complete opposite of the other sides.

Which was why he had been blown away by all of the fanfictions that centered around him.

His particular favorites were the ones where the other sides completely included him as a member of the family. Sure, they treated him like family and all, but they still avoided him to a degree. They didn't completely understand why he acted the way he did. He couldn't blame them, but still, it hurt a bit when he walked into a room and all chatter went quiet.

In these fanfictions, the others saw his flaws, yes, but accepted them. They learned all there was to know about him and adapted him into their lives as a true member of the family. They weren't awkward about touching him, hugging him. They learned how to recognize signs that he was uncomfortable, and they learned how to help him during a panic attack. 

They accepted him in the fanfictions, but it was more than he could ever hope for in his real life.

And thus, he unknowingly began an obsession. At night, when he was sure that everyone else had long since gone to bed, he opened up his phone browser and typed in that key phrase that became almost instinct over time. He would open up an AO3 page and scroll through for hours, unable to keep the love he felt in his heart for these wonderful works that people kept producing. 

After he was done with his scrolling and reading for the night, he would quadruple check that his browsing history was cleared and go to bed, his heart full of a false sense of love and security that he felt. He could almost feel the others hugging him and whispering soothing words to help him fall asleep.

God, what he wouldn't give for that to be real. But it couldn't be that way, could it? They would never do that, not if he begged for it.

\-----

After a while, it become obvious to the other sides the Virgil was happier in a way. They all attributed it to different things, however.

"Perhaps he's feeling the effects of a better night's sleep," Logan had suggested.

"Maybe he's having happier thoughts about himself!" Patton had exclaimed, as though he had just had the world's wisest epiphany.

"Perhaps he has been in contact with someone that makes him immensely happy. After all, a significant other does make someone happier," Roman had said.

They had discussed many ways of bringing it up to him, but all of them seemed too straight forward. After all, they couldn't just demand possibly personal information from someone who was still learning to open up to them.

The glorious moment of realization came from a late night check in from Patton.

He always seemed to know when any of the sides were up past an acceptable time. Though, at the same time, he knew that many of them followed different sleep schedules. Virgil's was by far the most erratic. He could get no sleep for three days or he could sleep nearly all day, which was why it was almost wasn't a surprise when Patton saw him in the kitchen at nearly three in the morning, staring intently at his phone as something swirled around in the microwave.

He himself had gone in to get a glass of water, but it seemed as though Virgil was microwaving some leftovers once again.

"Hey, kiddo, what are you doing awake?" Patton asked as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard, his hand groping around lethargically.

Virgil jolted at the sudden voice, having not expected it at that time of night. "Um... nothing, I'm just hungry." He said.

Patton just couldn't resist the opportunity that Virgil had presented him with.

"Well, hungry, my name is dad, nice to meet you." He said, barely resisting his laughter at the half-hearted groan that Virgil gave.

"Alright then. What are you looking at?" Patton asked, glancing breifly over the shoulder of the dark trait. Of course, he hated breaching his privacy like that, but it was the only way that he could think of to see what could possibly have Virgil so happy.

However, what he saw made him do a double-take.

On the screen, there was a story written out, as far as he could tell. But what caught his attention were a few key phrases that he could make out.

The phrases consisted of everyone hugging Virgil, giving him affection and love. The worst part was that Virgil looked like he loved it, and Patton realized that they hadn't been the best to the male dressed in black and purple.

Before he could say anything else, Virgil had shut the screen the black before bolting off to his room as soon as he realized that Patton had seen the story, forgetting about the food that was lukewarm in the microwave.

Patton sighed softly. As tired as he was, he knew that he couldn't just ignore what he had seen, nor could he ignore the way Virgil had reacted. He walked around the house that made up their mindspace, knocking on the doors of Logan and Roman to wake them up. As much as he knew they would be angry, he also knew that he wanted to tell them quicly before he forgot or there wasn't an opportune time. 

And he was right. Logan had lectured him for a good five minutes about the importance of a good night's sleep. Likewise, Roman had gone on a short monologue about how his beauty sleep was important. All in all, they really were not in the mood to discuss what Patton had seen. Nonetheless, they knew that Patton would never wake them up unless something was wrong or needed immediate attention. 

However, once they listened to the recent interaction between the opposite traits, they couldn't help but worry. 

After a fair bit of debate, they had settled on trying ti gently broach the topic to Thomas in the morning, and pray that Virgil didn't pop in at any time.

They couldn't have been more relieved when morning came, and sunrise began to peek through the blinds, filling the house with lines of pale sunlight.

\----

Thomas couldn't explain the way that he was feeling. It was a strange mixture of sadness and anticipation that almost led him to believe that Virgil was behind the feelings.

However, he was proven wrong when he saw every side but the aforementioned trait appear in his living room. As he always did, he listened carefully to their problem, being sure to address the ways that were proposed to bring it up to Virgil. Although every way would be good with anyone but Virgil, the wall came when they were all just too straight forward. They knew that Virgil would grow defensive, clamming up and refusing to tell them anything.

Together, the group of men came to the conclusion that they should simply bring it up. The sooner the better, similar to ripping off a bandaid, as Virgil as summed up simply saying something that he was nervous about saying. 

Without further hesitation, they summoned Virgil into the living room with a quick call of his name. The male appeared in his spot on the stairs, not looking at all happy about being summoned, less so when he saw all of the other sides.

"Please tell me you didn't randomly decide to film a video." He said, before realizing that there was no camera in sight. 

"Uh, no kiddo, but we do need to talk to you about something." Patton had said, gently pulling Virgil down from his spot and onto the couch.

"Yes, would you like to explain why you refer to stories of us being affection with you instead of indulging in the real thing?" Logan inquired, staring at Virgil with an expression that was as close to worry as the emotionless trait could get. 

Virgil stiffened, hunching himself inti his hoodie. "Its none of your business, guys." He tried to say, his voice coming out nervous and upset.

Roman shook his head. "On the contrary, it is completely our business. You are obviously upset about us not being affectionate with you, and we have a way to fix it!" He said. Without warning, he enveloped Virgil in a hug, settling on the couch next to him.

Virgil jolted in shock at the hug, trying to squirm away out of instinct. However, he couldn't deny that the feeling of being hugged was nice. He opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, looking between Thomas, Patton, and Logan, his eyes wide and lost and looking way younger than he actually was. 

Logan sighed. "Well, that's one way to go about it," He said, "but really, Virgil, Roman is absolutely correct. You are happier when you feel like you are loved. But we want to show you that you don't have to be afraid that we won't be affectionate with you." He said. He was almost as adverse to touch as Virgil, so he reached out and placed a hand on his head as a sign of comfort.

Patton grinned. "Absolutely, kiddo! Logan is right, we love you." He said, hugging him tightly. 

Thomas smiled. "Well, they're all right. We don't want you to feel like we're avoiding you." He said. He grabbed a large blanket and draped it over them, turning in disney movies. He was sure that Virgil needed time to get used to the feeling of being hugged, slipping under the blanket with the rest of them.

It was halfway through Cinderella when Virgil had drifted off to sleep, draped across Logan and Roman's laps. It was after Mulan that Virgil woke uo and started crying because he had been so sure that everything had just been a dream. But it was real. They were hugging him, caring about him.

As he laid against Patton's chest, breathing in the scent that he associated with safety and home, he felt calm for once in his life.


End file.
